Yelp Founders, Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive OfficerRussel Simmons, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Russel Simmons, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

In conversation with Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence

Yelp co-founders Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons catapulted their company into the newest online community sensation. Yelp has radically changed the way the Bay Area (and the U.S.) perceives and interacts with local businesses. Much more than a city guide, it is a vibrant community of users that write about their personal experiences with everything from restaurants and bars to even organizations like The Commonwealth Club. Join Yelp’s co-founders for a talk about their company and the power of online reviews.

Stoppelman and Simmons, former colleagues and friends, both co-founded Yelp Inc. in July 2004. Stoppelman graduated from the University of Illinois in computer science and became VP of engineering at PayPal, but left to attend the Harvard Business School in 2003. After his first year, he joined an incubator by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin where he and Simmons reunited and later created Yelp. Simmons also graduated from the University of Illinois in computer science and was the lead software architect at PayPal before leaving to join Levchin’s incubator.

This program was recorded live on October 25, 2007